A therapeutic session is time-out-of-time to experience, notice and be, with the support of a skilled and experienced practitioner. I work integratively, bringing tools from yoga therapy, somatic and somatic movement therapy, and parts work as needed. Exactly how that looks in an individual session depends on your own individual responses and needs. For many people, particularly those bringing experiences of childhood trauma, what we do is very simple, based on noticing different parts of self, using dialogue techniques to get to know them, and bringing awareness to any physical sensations that arise.

 

As your capacity to connect with and stay present to the experience of different parts of you increases, or if you already have greater capacity, we can expand into other inquiries. For example, I may invite you into deeper conversations with inner parts of yourself through new dialogue approaches. Or I may invite you to follow your own impulses into movement or into intuitive touch on your own body. If it’s appropriate and wanted by you, I may also offer therapeutic touch to help you to engage more fully with what’s happening, or to help you to integrate what you have experienced. You are always encouraged to make an active choice about whether or not to accept any of my suggestions, and any touch is carefully negotiated in words and through noticing how different parts of you respond.
 

​As a practitioner, I’m not there to interpret or advise. My role is to help you to be curious, to listen without judgement, to witness with compassion, and to navigate those pathways towards healing and integration that your body already knows.

The following are some of the different elements that might be in a session:

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​Somatic therapy
Somatic work is an invitation to cultivate attention to the life of your inner body. The body is an ancient storehouse of emotional experiences. These are stitched into our tissues – cells, organs, fascia, bones. Whatever we have been too young, scared, overwhelmed or frozen to feel, the body holds, until we are ready to let it into consciousness and express and integrate it. Somatic therapy offers a safe space to gently unpick some of the seams. Some somatic tools we may use include inviting awareness of physical sensations or of breath; noticing colours, imagery or words that arise in connection with different parts of your body; dialogue with different body parts or with your whole body; offering self-touch or receiving physical support from me. Consent is always of primary importance, and we are always attuning to the responses of you and your body in order to seek full embodied permission for any offering.

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Somatic movement therapy
Somatic movement techniques offer ways to bring more attention to the somatic dimensions of your physical experience, making space for sensations, emotions, thoughts and images to arise and be received into intuited meanings and words. For example, we might be curious about what you feel as you make a particular gesture. What happens if we slow it right down? Or if you allow the gesture to amplify? We might start a session with improvised movement – marking any noticings that come up and becoming curious about them in verbal or written words, or in further movement.

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Parts work​

Parts work is based on the premise (supported by recent neuroscience as well as by some ancient spiritual systems) that healthy human consciousness is multiple. This means that when we look inside, we may discover different parts of ourselves with different inner roles and conflicting viewpoints. Some of these parts may be very young and others more adult. The parts work systems I am certified in, Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) offer ways to get to know our parts, to heal those that may be suffering, and to invite helping parts to come into alignment with our actual present-day needs and values. While parts work involves speech, this is an experiential process, different from talk therapy, because we connect directly with the inner parts, creating relationship with them based on their actual feelings and intentions – rather than talking about or interpreting them from a cognitive viewpoint.

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Phoenix Rising yoga therapy

Phoenix Rising brings to therapeutic work the practice of open-ended, non-judgemental awareness and an intention to compassionately witness. In this work, hands-on assists, together with non-directive dialogue protocols invite you into curiosity about sensations, emotions, images and thoughts. When we meet with our experience in this simple, open way, possibilities for change begin to arise. While in Phoenix Rising yoga therapy we may offer our focus to our breath or to a particular movement or body shape, receiving a session isn’t like doing a yoga class. There are no postures, no mantras or complicated breath practices to learn, and you don’t need to be fit or flexible or to have any experience of yoga. The process is about enquiring into your present-moment inner experience and, with the support of the practitioner, meeting it with whatever kindness might be available.

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Who is it for?
Yoga, somatic and parts work therapy can be helpful in negotiating a wide range of psychological and emotional experiences. Some of the things clients have brought to sessions include addiction, eating disorders, depression, questions of gender and sexual identity, grief, life crises and making transitions. Many of my clients are working with complex trauma – experiences of childhood sexual / physical / emotional abuse, and / or neglect. Other people don’t have any particular 'problem’ but use sessions as a tool of general self-growth and awareness.​

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While this kind of therapy may sometimes contribute to the healing of injuries and illnesses, the main intention is to enable you to inquire into your own embodied feelings and experiences, so if your aim is to find functional solutions to injury or illness, this is not an appropriate form of therapy for you.

 

As an Autistic person, I love working with other neurodivergent people and have found that my approach often works very well with Autistic and ADHD processing styles.

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Read an article about what it's like to come to yoga somatic and parts work therapy with childhood (complex) trauma. Read about Aileen’s experience of yoga, somatic and parts work therapy for complex trauma.

Background and training

I have been in therapeutic practice since graduating from the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy programme in 2003. Yoga and somatic therapy is rooted in mindfulness practice and also incorporates elements from Person-centred Therapy (in which Phoenix Rising has its roots). I am certified in Janina Fisher's CPTSD-specific Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment and have completed IFSCA’s Internal Family Systems training programme, Stepping Stones, Stepping Deeper and the Advanced Weekend. I am also a NeuroAffective Touch practitioner.

 

I am registered with the International Association of Yoga Therapists and with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association and am in regular supervision and case consultation.

See a mind map of the influences that colour my therapeutic work here.

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What clients say
“Yoga and somatic therapy with Jess reached me in a way that no other therapy ever has because it works on both mind and body. The sessions had such a profoundly positive effect on me. I have never felt so calm or in my body. I was very much in the present, in the now. I noticed I could breathe and there wasn't the same tension in my shoulders and thoracic area. Being able to trust someone does not come easily to me, but I felt able simply to surrender without ever feeling judged.”—Clara 

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“I had my sessions at a very painful time in my life and found them (and Jess as the conduit) exceptionally insightful, grounding and powerfully engaging. The safe space Jess created allowed me to open doors within myself that I would have struggled to confront alone.”—Sukhera 

 

“Jess built up a very calm, supportive environment which gave me strength and bravery to face emotions and give them space, which I normally would not do. The whole-body focus felt important to me as we experience everything we deal with with the whole body, and other therapies I have received have mainly focused only on the mental part. Jess included the whole body, and that gave me faith to open up, not only to her but also towards myself.”—Anna

 

“Having only had a few sessions, I have been astonished how much they have moved things around for me. At a time when I was scared that there was no way out of the darkness, this therapy helped me gently lift myself to a happier place. I think I am still digesting some of my discoveries and am amazed at how gentle a process the practice is and yet incredibly powerful. I can leave a session feeling as though I can literally take more air into my lungs.”—Jana

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Practicals

Sessions are weekly, one-to-one, and last 60 minutes. I work both in person, from my own space in London SE18, and online. The cost is £90 per session. (Please note that for international payments, there is an additional 10 per cent charge. This is to cover transfer fees.)
 

Booking and enquiries
Please contact me.